Nutrition Guide

5 Easy Steps to Build Your FU Meal Plan

Ready to take control over your meal planning and not sure where to start? Do you know how many calories you need? What about your macros? Need some guidance? Use the following step-by-step guide on how to structure your own personal meal plan.

Step 1 – Determine Your BMR

Your BMR is the basic amount of calories that you need to sustain daily function. Use the following calculation to determine your BMR.

Formula for BMR (Mifflin Formula):

BMR (if Male) = (10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x Age) + 5

BMR (if Female) = (10 x weight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x Age) – 161

Example: For a 68 kg male, of 177 cm height who trains heavily and wants to add as much muscle as possible!

BMR = (10 x 68 kg) + (6.25 x 177) – (5 x 28) + 5

BMR = 680 + 1106 – 140 + 5

BMR = 1641

Step 2 – Determine Your TEE

TEE is your total energy expenditure, which is a combination of your BMR and your activity level. Use the below table to determine the amount of additional calories you will need.

TEE = BMR + Activity Level

Activity Levels* TEE (kcal)
No exercise or irregular exercise (0-1hr/wk) BMR + 200
Mild (1 to 3hrs/wk) BMR + 400
Moderate (4 to 5hrs/wk) BMR +520
Heavy (6 to 8 hrs/wk) BMR +700
Extreme (>9hrs/wk) BMR +1000
Example:

TEE = 1641 + 700 = 2341

Step 3 – Calculate Calories Needed Based on Your Goals

Now that you understand what your basic calorie needs are you can further adjust your calories based on your personal goals – do you want to lose weight, maintain weight or gain muscle? Take your TEE and subtract or add calories as needed as per below.

Formula for calories needed (KCAL)

KCAL if goal (weight loss) = TEE- 650

KCAL if goal (weight maintenance) = TEE

KCAL if goal (weight gain/muscle gain): TEE+ 500

Example:

Total Calories = 2341 + 500 = 2841

Step 4 – Determine Macro-nutrient Ratios Based on Calorie Calculations

Once you have your total calories for the day, the next step is to break down those calories into macro-nutrient percentages based on what you determined your calorie goals are as per the above step.

Calories Macro-nutrient Ratio
(Protein: Carbs: Fat)

Goal
1100 to 1300 Kcal 40:20:40 Weight Loss
1300 to 1800 kcal 40:30:30 Maintenance
1800 plus kcal 40:40:20 Muscle Building
Example for Muscle Building:

Protein = Calories x 40% = Calories of Protein Per Day/4 calories per gram = g weight of Protein/Day

Example = 2341 x 0.4 = 936.4/4 = 234.1 g of Protein/Day

Carbs = Calories x 40% = Calories of Carbs Per Day/4 calories per gram = g weight of Carbs/Day

Example = 2341 x 0.4 = 936.4/4 = 234.1 g of Carbs/Day

Fats = Calories x 20% = Calories of Fats Per Day/9 calories per gram = g weight of Fats/Day

Example = 2341 x 0.2 = 468.2/9 = 52.0 g of Fats/Day

Step 5 – Build Your Meal Plan Using Fuel Up!

Now that you know how many calories and how much macro-nutrients you need for each day, you are ready to start building your very own meal plan using Fuel-Up By Kcal!

Simply click the link below to go directly to the order page. Pick your proteins, carbs and vegetables to help you reach these macro-nutrient totals. Not sure how much food you need? Each serving of protein, carbs and vegetables provides you the specific nutritional breakdown including the calories and grams of each nutrient for protein, carb and fat!

order fuel